The present invention relates to a process for rapidly leveling the height of ceramic tiles and the like to thereby speed up the process of installing a tile floor or counter top.
Ceramic tile, marble tiles or stone tiles are commonly used to cover the surface of kitchen and bathroom floors, walls and counter tops. Ceramic tiles are fired clay having a decorative and impervious surface. Tiles are typically square or rectangular in shape and in different sizes. Most ceramic tiles have projections on their edges to space them from abutting tiles. There are also tiles for corners, baseboards and the like. Laying tiles involves preparing a smooth floor surface and planning a pattern and then attaching the tiles with an adhesive. The adhesive used may be cement based mortar or an epoxy as well as an epoxy mortar or latex mortar or the like. After the tile is set in the adhesive, the tiles are leveled and the spaces between them are filled with grout. A common step in laying floor tiles is to provide a mud surface. A floor mud is typically a mixture of Portland cement, sand and water smoothed over the floor surface where the tiles need to be set. A floor mud surface is typically from ¾″ to 2-3″ thick and provides a level surface for attaching the tile. The tiles can be attached directly to a cement or other floor if the floor is sufficiently level. Alternatively, a backer board can be utilized for leveling of an uneven floor. Once the adhesive combining agent is placed over the floor, the tiles must be positioned in a directed pattern, spaced from each other and pressed into the bonding agent. Leveling the tiles relative one to the other once they are placed into the bonding agent is commonly a slow step in the process of setting tiles.
The present invention is directed to a method and apparatus for rapidly leveling the height of the tile to thereby speed up the process of laying tiles. Ceramic tiles will typically have projections on the edge to space them from abutting tiles, leaving sufficient space between the tiles which is filled with grout. With tiles not having edge projections, such as in marble or stone tiles, inexpensive plastic spacers are available to space one tile from the edge of the abutting tiles.
In the past, there have been any number of spacers for spacing adjacent tiles relative to each other, some of which can be seen in the Joos U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,341 for spacers for laying tile and method of their use and in the Lewis U.S. Pat. No. 6,354,058 for a method and apparatus for laying tile. In the Rea et al. U.S. Pat. No. RE 35,380, a tile mounting system is provided which uses a tiling matrix. In the S. J. Cable U.S. Pat. No. 2,852,932 a tile and grouting assembly is provided. In the Lowe, Jr. et al. U.S. Pat. No. 7,140,156, a system for installing of decking tiles is provided while the Pytlewski U.S. Pat. No. 6,823,640 has a hollow spacer for tiles for insertion into intersecting joint spaces between tile courses which is left in place after the spaces have been filled with grout. In the J. S. White U.S. Pat. No. 3,501,877, a masonry joint spacer is provided for spacing joints in masonry walls and the like.
The present invention is directed towards assisting and speeding up the process of laying a tile floor and the like by providing a tile height spacer for more rapidly positioning the height of all four corners of a tile quickly and with less effort to thereby speed up the process of laying a tile floor.